Quick question - I'm looking online and don't know how to word a search criterion to come up with it: What is the rhythm called that Bernstein used in "America" - AuuAuu|AuAuAu? (A=acccented, u=unaccented)

I think the word you are looking for may be hemiola. Typically found in music in 3/4 which then becomes three minims across two bars, most often in the approach to a cadence although Bernstein is writing in 6/8 here However I see in my copy of the score that the main section of the piece (the fast chrous after the slow introduction is marked "Tempo de Huapango" which I have just looked up and a Huapango is apparently a mexican folk dance with singing which includes a lot of foot stomping and does typically include contrasting duple/triple meter.

> However I see in my copy of
> the score that the main section of the piece (the fast chrous
> after the slow introduction is marked "Tempo de Huapango" which
> I have just looked up and a Huapango is apparently a mexican
> folk dance with singing which includes a lot of foot stomping
> and does typically include contrasting duple/triple meter.
>

Yes, thank you and donald. I didn't have a score at hand. I think that's probably the word I've heard in the past, if it's what Bernstein referred to.

I tried to post a link but it didn't work. If you go to YouTube and search "Huapango OSX" the first and fourth videos are pretty decent.

[I put a link in to a traditional one. I live in Mexico - I get to hear huapango along with a lot of other variants. I even like professionally-played mariachi as played in the the state of Jalisco since I'm in Guadalajara often. Well, I'll listen for 45 minutes or so, anyway . Mark C. ]